As the fall semester wraps up, it's time to recognize the incredible achievements of our chapters across the region. Everyone has been working hard, organizing impactful events on and off campus that make a difference in our communities. We're always excited to celebrate the dedication and effort that goes into each project!
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Craven Community College: Alpha Phi Nu Chapter
On October 23rd, Alpha Phi Nu members and representatives from the HOPE Family Resource Center jointly hosted a “lunch and learn” session about our local foster care community at Craven Community College (CCC) called “Becoming a Friend of Foster Care.” The purpose of this event was to inform the community about the reality of living in foster care and to encourage people to get involved with and support the youth in the foster care system, with a focus on the 18-21 program for youth preparing to leave foster care. There were three speakers representing the HOPE Family Resource Center, one of which was a young woman who has recently aged out of the foster care system and was able to give us more insight into the true experience of living in foster care and how she has managed life on her own. Many CCC students came to the event and asked lots of great questions! The representatives provided many ways to support the youth in foster care, like donating items for them to take with them to new foster homes. As a chapter, we strongly believe that our community has the ability to positively impact the lives of those in foster care, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to encourage them to do so through events like this one.
Pitt Community College: Beta Nu Upsilon Chapter
Throughout the month of October, we celebrated the power of storytelling, focusing on the brave survivors and the supportive community surrounding breast cancer in Pitt County, NC. In a brief phone interview, historian John Kammerer shared his early memories of the Women's Club in Farmville, NC. On June 25, 1945, this group discussed cancer before the Health Clinic in Pitt County started meeting in Greenville around 1948.
The American Cancer Society, founded in 1913 by 15 individuals—five non-medical professionals and ten physicians—began to make significant strides in cancer awareness when Marjorie G. Illig ramped up efforts through education and fundraising in 1936 (American Cancer Society).
In Pitt County and the surrounding eastern NC counties, several Relay for Life events are scheduled, offering educational resources, networks, and connections for survivors, caregivers, and family members. These events feature individuals who walk and share their stories of resilience, support, hope, and courage. Since 1985, the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life "Luminaria Ceremony" events have taken place worldwide, illuminating countless incredible stories of triumph through trauma and tragedy (American Cancer Society - Relay For Life).
On October 29, 2024, at Pitt Community College’s “Stitches of Strength,” we had the opportunity to speak with a few survivors, and their tales of strength and perseverance were truly inspiring.
Surry Community College: Alpha Xi Tau Chapter
Dobson, NC – October 23, 2024. Recently, Surry Community College’s Alpha Xi Tau Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society went on an adventure to Emerald Hollow Mine, located in Hiddenite, NC. Chapter President, Ellie Edwards; Chapter Vice President, Luke Johnson; Chapter Public Relations Officer, Veronika Dimeo; and Member, Arnold Stimpson dug in the open mine, then sluiced their buckets of dirt to look for emeralds. They then tried their hand at sifting for gemstones in the creek. Each came away from the experience with a small, apple-green emerald in hand. “They weren’t gemstone quality, but they still count,” explained Dr. Kathleen Fowler, the Honor Society co-advisor.
Located in the Brushy Mountains, Emerald Hollow Mine is the only emerald mine in the world open to the public for prospecting. Visitors can find more than 60 different types of naturally occurring gems and minerals, including not only emeralds, but also other types of gemstones such as aquamarine, sapphire, garnet, topaz, amethyst, citrine, rutile, and tourmaline. Although it is extremely rare, visitors may also find hiddenite, the gemstone for which the town is named. Hiddenite is the fourth rarest gemstone in the world.
PTK members learned about the unique geology of the Brushy Mountains and why gemstones form there. They also learned what raw emeralds look like and how to identify them. According to Chapter Officer, Veronika Dimeo, the trip was “an exciting, educational adventure” which provided an opportunity “for all ages of rock-hounds to experience the thrill of real-life gem mining at the only emerald mine in the world.”
A little geology, a little hard work, and a lot of fun—what a great mixture of learning and enjoyment. In fact, the Surry Community College’s chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is built on four pillars: Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Fellowship.
“We schedule both fun activities and service projects throughout the year. Keeping a balance of fun and hard work is important,” explains chapter co-advisor, Dr. Kathleen D. Fowler who is also an English instructor at SCC.
Photo Captions from right to left:
PTK members Ellie Edwards, Luke Johnson, Arnold Stimpson, and Veronika Dimeo at Emerald Hollow Mine. PTK members Luke Johnson and Ellie Edwards screening for emeralds in the creek at Emerald Hollow Mine. PTK members Veronika Dimeo, Arnold Stimpson, Luke Johnson, and Ellie Edwards sluicing for emeralds at Emerald Hollow Mine.
Midlands Technical College: Alpha Eta Kappa Chapter
Stories and folklore are integral to preserving history and interpreting what those who came before us experienced. The human mind attempts to make sense of anything it doesn't understand, and we tend to attribute that to the supernatural when no logical explanations are available. When we chose to focus on Agnes, it was not only because her story called upon that paranormal curiosity but because that curiosity is often intertwined with historical events.
For Agnes specifically, we wanted to find the truth in the details of her story: was she a Scottish woman who traveled to America chasing after a British soldier, leading her to Charleston and then her final resting place, Camden? Did she genuinely succumb to sickness or die in childbirth, as some rumors say? Was she buried by the chief of the Catawba tribe, King Haigler? Was she buried outside of the fence because she was a witch? Why do people leave coins on her gravestone? These details have become hazy and distorted over years of storytelling and embellishing for a scarier effect. Our search led us to the Southern Gothic Festival, a wonderful celebration of Carolina's gothic subculture that consists of great speakers and an incredible music act called Valentine Wolfe.
To help us distinguish truth from embellishment, we were excited to speak with author Tally Johnson. He is the winner of the Caldwell Sims Award for Excellence in Southern Folklore from the USC-Union Upcountry Literary Festival and has written many books on Carolina ghosts: Ghosts of the South Carolina Upcountry, Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands, and Ghosts of the Pee Dee. Tally became interested in ghosts from a young age after an encounter with the Hound of Goshen in Union County, SC, and the King's Messengers west of Charlotte, NC (both tales are wonderfully told by Tally, a combination of his personal experience and knowledge of the history and stories, and best heard at one of his storytelling sessions). With this historical knowledge and personal experience, we knew we had a good source for the truth of Agnes.
That truth is that Agnes's story is most likely untrue, as much as ghost lovers want to believe it. "I hate to break it to you because I love Agnes, but it's not true," Johnson states, elaborating on the fact that there very well could have been a camp follower who came to Camden with the British, but there is no proof that she traveled in search of a long-lost love. Agnes could have been a young Scottish woman who passed during childbirth or from disease, most likely smallpox at the time, but she was not buried in Camden by King Haigler. King Haigler died in 1763, seventeen years before Agnes's supposed death in 1780. Moreover, there is no proof that the body buried under the headstone is truly Agnes. Johnson says the consensus is that an unidentified body was buried there and that in the late 1880s, someone who knew the story decided to mark the grave as hers.
Finally, Agnes is buried outside the fence because she wasn't a Quaker, not because she was a witch. While many of us wanted the spooky legend of Agnes to have some truth, Tally's information proves that this legend was mainly the result of imagination. Even if Agnes's specifics may not be actual, there are unexplained happenings throughout the Southeast – and many more to expand upon next Halloween. To wrap things up, we asked Tally Johnson why there could be lingering spirits from before, and he said that many experts believe it starts with routine. You wake up every day simultaneously, let the dog out, turn the kitchen light on, and make breakfast for 50 years. It's plausible that this memory and residual energy remain after you pass away, even though it gets fuzzier over time. So, even if what people have seen wandering Quaker cemetery may not be Agnes of Glasgow specifically, it could be someone. I guess you'll have to come to that decision yourself.
The Alpha Eta Kappa chapter would like to thank Amy Schofield, Director of Kershaw Country Library, for helping us find more information on ghost lore. We would also love to congratulate Tally Johnson for speaking with us and helping us uncover the truth of one of our local ghost stories. Even though the Southern Gothic Festival is over for this year (be sure to check for it next October!), keep looking for any of Tally's upcoming events to learn more about any ghosts that could be roaming around you.
Photo Caption:
Author Tally Johnson during his Carolina Ghost Lore event at the Southern Gothic Festival